Magic Theory
by SunnyxxxDay
Summary: A mysterious girl climbs up the side of the tower one day. She's a bit dirty, and dresses like a boy, but she seems alright. T for cursing.
1. Chapter 1: Raggamuffin

**Well, here's my first Disney fanfiction. Here goes nothing**

* * *

She wakes up on a typical Monday morning. She sings to pass the time.

"7:00 am, the usual morning line up: start on the chores, sweep 'till the floor's all clean, polish and wax, do laundry, mop, and shine up. Sweep again, and by then, its like 7:15. And so I'll read a book, or maybe two, or three. I'll add a few new paintings to my gallery. Ill play guitar and knit and cook and basically just wonder when will my life begin."

She is just ten. Mother Gothel says that she's old enough to take care of herself now and went took the day's walk to town for supplies. And she gave her chores so she has something to do all day. Repunzel finds herself lonely, though. She has never been by herself like this. Well, not since Mother Gothel went to the seaside for those white shells to make paint.

Just as she is finishing polishing the silverware and is starting to put it away, there's a knock on the window. She looks over, rather confused and hops down from her stool, her golden hair dragging on the floor behind her. She pulls open the shutters. On the other side of the glass is a girl dressed in boys clothes. And she's covered in dirt. To the point where its hard to tell what her hair color is.

The girl has chocolate brown eyes and dark matted hair. Her skin is a sunkissed caramel color.

Repunzel blinks in surprise. And her heart starts to beat faster with fear. "H-how did you find this place?" She asks, taking several steps back.

The girl climbs in the window.

"You're not supposed to be here!" Repunzel says, grabbing the broom from where it was leaning nearby, pointing the business end at her like a weapon.

The mystery girl frowns. "I'm not gonna hurt ya.." she says reaching out with her left hand.

"That's what a ruffian would say!" Repunzel says, whacking it with the broom.

The mystery girl tilts her head in confusion as she pulls her hand bacj. "I'm no ruffian! I'm Dralina!" She says pointing her thumb at her chest. Repunzel relaxes a little, lowering the broomstick.

"Are gonna try and steal my hair?" She asks, suspicious still.

Dralina looks confused again. "What would I want with your hair? That sounds nutty." she says, crossing her arms.

Repunzel, stands there for a minute, trying to decide if she believes her or not. "Well, if you dont want my hair, what do you want?" She asks, setting the broom back.

"Well, I was a'splorin' and I was followin' this creek and it led me here." She says shrugging. "I heard you guys havin' a row and I overheard her tellin' you that you wasn't allowed outside. So I waited to see if she would leave. Been watching this place for a couple of days now. So here I am."

Repunzel blinks in surprised. "Well, why did you come up here?" She asks.

"You looked lonely. I thought that you could use a friend.." Dralina says.

Repunzel sighs. "Well, you would have to leave before Mother comes home... And we have to be smart about if you eat my food." She says. She throws her arms up, spinning and motioning around. "Welcome to my house. This is our main area. We have laundry hanging up there." She points at the rafters where the clothes line is.

There are all sorts of undergarments and towels hanging currently.

Dralina giggles. "Nice undies, Blondie." She says, mock punching Repunzel on the shoulder.

"Hey! Be nice to my undies!" Repunzel pouts, her cheeks getting a little red.

Dralina giggles more. "Do you got a room?" She asks.

Repunzel nods and leads her up the stairs towards her room.

"Whoa, its pretty in here! Much nicer than my room. I share with my little brother." Dralina says, looking around. She spies a small flower painted on the wall that looks like it was done with finger paints. "Did you paint this?" She asks.

Repunzel walks over. "Yeah. It was just a practice flower. Mother says I can paint the walls but it has to be beautiful or she'll paint it back over." She says pointing to the new-looking patches of cream colored paint higher up on the wall.

"What's your family like?" Repunzel asks.

"Well, I got two older brothers, a little brother, a Mama and a Pa. My Pa is a woodworker. He makes stuff out of wood and sells it to people. Sometimes its art and sometimes its stuff like boxes. My Mama is a seamstress. She makes clothes in a real mean rich lady's shop. My oldest brother is married and lives in the capitol. My second oldest brother is learning the stuff my Pa knows. And my Mama takes my little brother to work with her so I can just do whatever I want." Dralina says.

"What's it like having brothers?" Repunzel asks. "I dont have brothers or sisters."

"Well, when everyones home, its loud. And my older brothers like to fight." She aays shrugging.

"What's your father like? I don't have one of those either." Repunzel asks.

"Well, he's so annoying. And embarrassing. He keeps trying to tell me that I'll marry this kid Felix one day. And in public." She says sticking her tongue out in disgust.

"Gross." Repunzel says.

Dralina giggles. "What do you do for fun around here?" She asks.

"Paint, candlemaking, knitting, I play chess... And quite a few other things.." Repunzel says. "And Mother brought back some playing cards the last time she went to market."

Dralina nods. "How does your mama get in and out of here?" She asks.

"Rope and pulley." Repunzel says. "But its going out. Who knows how long it will keep working."

Dralina nods. "Wanna go outside and play?" She asks.

Repunzel freezes and shakes her head. "Mother says I can't go outside. She says the outside world is dangerous for little girls." She says.

Dralina nods. "Well, yeah, its dangerous. But it aint hard to learn the things you gotta know about the oustside world. There are certain things you gotta know about certain things to stay out of trouble." She says. "Like, you always gotta avoid kids that's bigger than you, or they'll be comin' for anything you got in your pockets."

Repunzel bites her lip. "Really? Other kids are mean?" She asks softly.

"Some of them are. Especially if they're worse off than you." She says, sitting up on Repunzel's bed.

"Worse off?" Repunzel asks.

Dralina sighs. "Sometimes kids don't have parents to take care of them. Or their parents don't have good jobs and can't feed 'em good."

"Oh.. Well that's not good." Repunzel says.

"Not a lot you can do for them." Dralina says, swinging her legs slowly. "They just got a lot more worries then kids with parents do."

"Oh.." Repunzel says, looking down.

"Let's not talk about that anymore. Let's do something!" Dralina says a bright smile spreading on her face.

"Do you know how to play Go Fish?" Repunzel asks, going over to her toy chest and lifting the lid.

"No. My parents don't have playing cards." Dralina says, hopping off the bed to follow her. "We can play dolls since you have more than one."

Repunzel nods and pulls out her two dolls. One was blonde with hazel eyes like her and the other had pale blonde hair with clear blue eyes.

She also pulls out a black stuffed horse with a blue cloth sewn to its back and a sandy colored stuffed house with a pink hat with daisies on it attached to its head. She hands the black horse and the pale blonde doll to her new friend.

"So why are you covered in dirt?" Repunzel asks. "Do you not have clean clothes to wear?"

Dralina looks down at the clothes she's wearing, lifting her leg to inspect her shoes too. "Well, I didn't even notice." She says shrugging.

"I can make you a bath if you want, but I dont have anything for you to wear."

Dralina scrunches up her face in disgust. "Ew! I dont like taking baths." She says.

"Well you're gonna have to.. it be a real problem to have to clean up after you've been here. I have to sweep again.." Repunzel says frowning. "Next time at least get most of it off of you before you get here."

Dralina smiles brightly. "So I can come back." She says, not really a question.

Repunzel gets all flustered. "Whatever, just make sure that Mother doesn't see you." She says pouting.

"Why? Why can't you have a friend?" Dralina asks, tilting her head to the side.

"Well, its a secret..." Repunzel says, absently touching her hair.

Dralina frowns. "Its alright. We don't gotta talk about it..." She says.

Repunzel smiles a little. "Ok." She says and they play games until the sun starts to touch the treetops.

Dralina frowns. "I have to leave now, don't I?" She says.

Repunzel nods.

Dralina gives her friend a hug and climbs out the window. Repunzel watches, worried that her new friend might slip. But, she doesnt. She makes it safely to the bottom. Dralina waves and runs towards the entrance of the little clearing. Repunzel sighs and starts cleaning up, anxiously awaiting for her mother to get home.


	2. Chapter 2: Dred Pirates

**Here's another one. Let me know if I should keep going.**

* * *

About a week or so passes before Mother Gothal leaves again to aquire food. And what a lonely week it was. Repunzel was more lonely than she ever was before, because now, she has someone she can call a friend. Dralina waited silently in the bushes for Mother Gothal to leave.

Once she couldn't hear her footsteps anymore, she booked it into the protected clearing and made her way up the side of the tower. Repunzel was waiting for her, arms open and almost bouncing with excitement. Dralina runs into her arms and they giggle. She was somewhat clean this time and her hair was brushed. It was a lovely auburn color.

"Hey, Repunzel, I gotta tell you something funny!" Dalina says. "So, my brother's wife doesn't like me, right?"

"Why doesn't she like you?" Repunzel asks, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, letting go of her.

"Who knows!" She says, waving it away. "Anyways, everyone's visiting and she doesn't like me and she was holding my little brother in her lap. He's old four, see? She said something really mean to me and Bobby just spit up what was in his mouth down her dress. On purpose!" Dralina burst out laughing. Repunzel laughs too, but not nearly as hard as her friend.

"I guess you had to be there." Dralina adds, wiping a tear from her eye.

"What do you wanna play today?" Repunzel asks.

"Let's play pirates! I'll be Captain, and you can be in the crow's nest!" Dralina says, smiling brightly.

"What's a crows nest?" Repunzel asks.

"Its a spot on the ship thats really high up and someone sits in there, looking for enemies, ships to steal from, storms, and whether or not we're near land." Dralina says.

"Wow, you know a lot of stuff!" Repunzel says, impressed.

"Yeah, my grandma just told me this amazing story about the Dred Pirate Roberts!" Dralina say. "He's super amazing and super famous!"

"Wow! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" Repunzel says.

"The Dred Pirate Roberts is the most feared and most accomplished pirate ever!" Dralina starts. "He's even stole from the Spanish! He's robbed hundreds of ships and stormed many shores to raid it of its riches! He's the richest pirate ever!"

"He sounds scary..." Repunzel says, biting her lip.

Dralina pats her shoulder, reassuringly. "Nah, don't worry Repunzel. He doesn't bother with kids."

Repunzel isn't convinced.

"Lets play pirates." Dralina says. "Can we climb up there somehow?" She points to the rafters.

Repunzel nods and goes over to the wall where the small dining table is sitting. She climbs up onto a chair and then onto the table. Right here is a support for one of the beams. She pulls herself up onto it easily and makes her way towards the large window in the roof. She smiles down at Dralina.

Dralina giggles and pulls one of the chairs to the center of the open space. "Alright you scallywags! Let loose the sails and hoist anchor!" She commands, pointing at invisible crewmates. She puts her hand on her brow and pretends to block out the bright sun of the open seas. "First Mate Repunzel! How does the weather look?" She stage yells up at her friend.

Repunzel puts her hand on her brow and pretends to look around. "Clear skies and calm seas, Captain!" She calls back down.

"Perfect day for sailing!" Dralina exclaims.

They play pirates the whole day. They fight the French, the Spanish, and even a rival pirate ship. They find buried treasure on one island, just to bury it on another island.

Too soon, the sun was touching the treetops on the horizon. Dralina frowns and hugs her friend sadly. "I'll come and see you as soon as I can." She says.

"You better!" Repunzel says.

And with that, Dralina decends the tower..

When Mother Gothal returns, its a long while before she leaves again.

* * *

Three weeks later...

Dralina climbs up the tower in the dead of night on the night of Repunzel's 11th birthday. Repunzel smiles, happy to see her friend, but she's confused as well.

"Dralina! What are you doing here?" Repunzel whispers.

"I have to tell you somethin' important!" She whispers back, sitting on the window sill.

"What is it?" Repunzel asks as a huge smile slides onto Dralina's face. She's wearing a satchel andreaches into it before holding her hands behind her back. Repunzel's face lights up like a candle.

"Happy Birthday!" Dralina says softly and shows her the object she brought.

It's a small uneven box with a slightly off-centered lid and a small latch. On the outside its painted like night and day. On one side the sun is rising out of the bottom over a field of flowers and the other side has the moon rising with stars riddling the night sky. And on the top in the middle is two figures holding hands. One has dark hair and the other has long blonde hair. She is so happy she could cry. She opens it and finds a single bright red feather that looks like its on fire.

"What is that?" Repunzel asks softly, in awe at the softl light it gives off.

"Firebird feather." Dralina says. "I found one nearby and asked it for a feather."

"Will it burn me?" Repunzel asks, wanting to touch it.

"No, its a magic fire. Its cool." Dralina says.

Repunzel pets it softly with her index finger. "Thank you so much!" She says with a gigantic smile. "I love it!" She hugs her friend tight.

Dralina smiles. "I'm glad ya like it." She says.

Right at that moment, the floating lights emerge from the treeline. They watch them together and when they stop rising, Dralina makes her way home. Repunzel wraps the box in a handkerchief and hides it up in the rafters in her room.

In the next week or so, Mother Gothal makes a trip to market for flour and various other items. Dralina scrambles up the tower five minutes after she left. "Repunzel!" She calls as she pulls herself in the window.

Repunzel runs down the stairs, smiling. "Dralina!" She shouts, running into her arms. "I missed you!" She says.

"I missed you too!" Dralina says.

"What do you want to do today?" Repunzel asks.

Dralina thinks for a minute. "Maybe we can play princesses today!" She says.

"Ooh! Ooh! I'll be your knight!" Repunzel says jumping up and down.

Dralina giggles and not ten minutes into their play, Mother Gothel returns unexpectantly, catching them fighting invisible bandits...


	3. Chapter 3: Caught Dead

**Here's the next one!**

 **RSGH Guest: Well, she's definitely going to be repressive lol  
**

* * *

The two friends freeze in their tracks. Mother Gothal, looks between them, shocked and almost panicked. She narrows her eyes at Dralina and puts a hand on the hilt of her knife. "How did you find this place, brat?" She growls, stepping towards her.

Repunzel stands inbetween them, her arms spread out to protect her friend. "Mother, please! She only found us by accident! Please don't hurt her!" She cries.

Gothal looks at her and Repunzel can see the unbridled rage in her eyes. Dralina notes that, oddly, Repunzel looks nothing like her. "How long has this been going on, Repunzel? How long has this girl been puting you in danger?" She says in a low tone.

"Only for a little while... And only while you're gone because I knew that you wouldn't let her stay.." Repunzel says. She's scared. Scared she won't see her friend again. Or worse, that Mother would hurt her. "And she doesn't know about.." she touches her hair.

Gothal moves her hand away from her knife, but she still looks very angry. "She needs to leave. And never return." She says.

"But, Mother-"

"No buts! The risk of someone dangerous finding us only grows every time she comes back!" Mother Gothal says. "You are too important, Repunzel!"

"She's my friend, Mother.." Repunzel says softly, eyes welling up with tears.

"I can't help that, Repunzel. Its too dangerous." She says. She looks at Dralina "Leave now and never come back and I will forgive you for putting my Repunzel in danger." She growls. She is truly terrifying. Dralina nods and inches towards the window.

Repunzel starts to cry, hugging her friend and trying to prevent her from leaving. Gothal almost has to seperate them. When Dralina finally manages to climb down the tower, Repunzel is in histerics and unconsolable. Dralina is almost the same, her tears soaking her sleeve.

Less and less often, Mother Gothal left the tower, feeling as if she had to watch the house to protect her daughter. She wouldn't go out unless it was absolutely necessary. And Dralina didn't return. Every second her mother was gone, Repunzel waited at the window, hoping that her friend will someday come back. She waited and waited. After a year, she started to lose faith. She started waiting farther and farther from the window, staring at it and crying. Soon, she didn't even cry.

* * *

One her 12th birthday, Mother Gothal brought home a book and something very peculiar. It was a little green lizard. "What is it?" Repunzel asks as it crawled from its cage and onto her hand.

"Its called a chameleon. Its a lizard brought from a far away land. It can change its skin to match it's surroundings." She says. Just then the lizard turns the same color as her hand.

"Wow." Repunzel says in awe.

"I brought him home just for you, to keep you company. You can name him whatever you want, ok?" Gothal says with an encouraging smile.

Repunzel smiles softly and nods, petting the lizard. "He will be... Pascal." She says. The small reptile looks right at her and blinks. She doesn't really know a lot about reptiles, but this one in her palm looks like he can understand her. At least she hopes so.

Mother Gothal nods and kisses the top of her head. "Come and sit down so I can brush your hair." She says. Repunzel nods and sits on the footstool in front of Mother Gothal's chair by the fire.

Gothal retrieves the hair brush from the mantle and sits down. "Will you sing for me?" She asks softly.

"Alright, Mother." Repunzel says, putting Pascal and the book in her lap. Pascal blinks up at her with his very intelligent eyes. She could say that he looks a little confused. "Flower, gleam and glow" her hair from roots to tips start to glow like sunlight and Pascal's eyes open wide, accompanied by a jaw drop.

"Let your power shine

Make the clock reverse

Bring back what once was mine

Heal what has been hurt

Change the Fates' design

Save what has been lost

Bring back what once was mine

What once was mine."

And with every single brush stroke, Mother Gothal's youth returned to her.

"I'll make dinner, sweetheart. I love you." She says petting her hair gently.

"I love you more." Repunzel says turning to look at her.

"I love you most." Gothal says leaning forward to kiss the top of her head.

Gothal gets up and goes towards the kitchen to get a pot. Repunzel puts Pascal on her shoulder where he willingly stays as she pulls out the arm for her mother as she fills the pot with water.

"Mother?" Repunzel says softly.

"Yes dear?" Gothal asks as she chops up various vegetables and herbs and puts them in the pot.

"Will you take me to see the floating lights?" She asks, worrying her new pets tail gently.

"What floating lights, dear?" She asks.

"The ones that only appear on my birthday."

"Well, I haven't seen them. Are you sure you're not imagining things?" Gothal says, chopping up mushrooms and some other root now.

"No, I don't think so." Repunzel says, stepping closer.

"Well, either way, it's too dangerous for you to leave the tower." Gothal says.

Repunzel looks down. "Ok, Mother." She says softly. She makes her way up to her room and places the book on her one shelf.

She sighs softly as she sits on the stool in front of her vanity. She looks up at the empty cream ceiling, eyeing her special treasure up on the rafters. Pascal looks too, seemingly fascinated by his new surroundings. "I'll find you one day." She vows softly.

Meanwhile, halfway across the kingdom:

"Child you have the potential to bend the universe to your will! What do you say?" The old man says, a twinkle in his everchanging eyes.

Dralina thinks about it for a minute. "Well... It might be worth a shot." She says.


	4. Chapter 4: Growing a Little Bit Everyday

**Here's chapter 4 finally lol I had me some writer's block**

* * *

Repunzel learned many things while her mother was away. She was quick with additions, subtractions, multiplication, and division, so she taught herself to quickly calculate with large numbers. If she was exposed to any sort of science, she would've devoured it with intense ferocity. Instead, all she had at her disposal was a paintbrush and a slew of different colors. She painted the walls with intense detail, and their home was all the more beautiful for it.

When she got bored of that, she begged her mother for something to learn, or to go outside and learn it for herself. And every time, Gothal would get a weird look in her eye, tell her no, and give her a chore to do. She wanted to learn why the sun shone the way it did, why grass is green, why there are stars in the sky, why you couldn't see the wind. At every turn, when she tried to fight for knowledge or something else, her mother would crush her back down again.

Its another year or so when Gothal finally calms down about intruders and goes out as often as she used to. She was gone for days on end, leaving Repunzel on her own. One night, she desides to do something with herself. She took a dark sheet and pinned it over the skylight window on a windless night. She then took a needle and some white paint and thread and started charting the stars.

It took several weeks to get it right, spending her mornings playing chess and baking cookies. And when she did, she started to embroider it on the sheet with white thread. When it was done, it was gorgeous.

Gothal liked it so much, she took it to market to sell it. When she came back, she had lots of supplies for Repunzel to occupy her time. And that's how Repunzel and Mother Gothal made money.

She read that book that her mother gave her so many times that the spine is starting to wear. It's a lovely fairy tail called Snow White. A beautiful girl who's step-mother's jealousy forces her to become the scullery maid. But Snow White finds a way to be happy. Like herself, she hopes to someday leave the life she has to achieve her dream, though Snow White's dream is to be taken away by a handsome prince.

* * *

One day, on Mother Gothal's return from the market, Repunzel was given a leather-bound book with empty pages. Repunzel was so excited, because now, if she wanted to, she make up her own story instead of repeatedly reading the books her mother got for her what seems like ages ago. And she never set it down for a second. At least until it's pages were full. She filled it with little stories she told herself when her mother was gone and she filled it with drawings. She filled it with every idea or thought she felt like writing down.

She begged her mother for another one once the first one was full. But she already had one waiting for her. This one was bigger and had more pages. This one, she filled with the things she noticed around her. Once, a caterpillar cocooned itself on a plant on the window sill. She watched it for hours every day, wondering what it could possibly be doing in there. She drew in her notebook what the caterpillar looked like before it cocooned and what the cocoon looked like, painting them their proper colors. It took weeks but, a butterfly came out, beautiful and colorful. It was really hard to keep Pascal from eating it.

She watches as it fanned it's wings out and took flight. It was the most wonderful thing that she's ever seen.

* * *

Dralina studied hard under her sorcerer master. He knew a lot of things about the world and how it worked.

"If you know the way something works, you can change it and manipulate it." He would always say.

She studied hard. She knew how to read, enough to get by, but her proficiency improved with every book she was forced to read. She learned many things about magic. She is learning to disguise herself, to detect poison in her food, and minor spells on removing magic from something (mainly lifting curses).

"Have you practiced that levitation spell?" The old mage asks. He sits at his desk, quil in hand. His dark eyes glance over at her just as he dumps the ink on his green tunic and brown trousers. A drop even reaches his socks and house slippers. "Ah, shit." He mutters softly, running a hand through his short white hair.

"Yeah." She says absently, buried in her book.

"How far off the ground did the apple get?" He asks, standing up to clean up his desk and to change.

"About a foot." She says.

"Then you need to keep practicing until it's easy." He says, disappearing into one of the back rooms. When he comes back, he's wearing a light blue tunic and matching trousers. He even changed his socks. "But after you get your reading done." He adds, sitting back down again. His quill starts to scratch at his parchment as he copies the open tome on his desk.

"Yeah, yeah." She says, eyes on her book.

After a while, she sighs, an indicator that she's getting bored. "Alright, go outside and practice the spells you know. Come back in when you get hungry and we'll have lunch." Her old teacher says.

She slams the book closed and runs outside. He chuckles.

About three hours later, she comes in screaming. "Kelsi!" She yells, panic on her face and blood on her hands.

He whips around from his desk. "What happened?" He asks, checking her over.

"I was doing the levitation spell.. and.. and.. it exploded... and I killed a bird.." she says, starting to cry.

He wipes her hands with his handkerchief gently and pulls her to his chest. "Its alright, it was an accident." He says gently, trying to calm her down.

She's hysterical, but he can make out her words. "It's never happened before.." she sobs.

"What were you thinking about when it happened?" He asks gently.

"The present I gave to my best friend on her birthday." She says softly. "It was a pained box with a firebird feather.."

Kelsi blinks in surprise. "Where did you find a firebird?" He asks, pulling back to look at her.

She sniffles and wipes her tears. "Near where she lives." She says softly. "But I'm not allowed to go back there. Her mother threatened to hurt me if I came back..."

Kelsi frowns, shaking his head. "Well that bitch needa to get the stick oit of her ass." He mutters with irritation.

Dralina giggles a little rubbing her eyes.

"Well, one day, we'll go look for that bird." He says. "Even if we have to turn ourselves invisible."

She giggles again and nods.

"Ready for lunch?" He asks.

She nods again.

* * *

 **Don't be shy! Tell me what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5: True Artist

**Here it is! Plz review! I really want to know what you think!**

* * *

Repunzel sat on the window sill, listening to the birds sing. She and Pascal quietly sit and watch them, trying to figure out what songs mean what. She sits there for hours on end, memorizing their songs and whistling them back to them. It takes weeks, but she gets one to fly up to her and Pascal. The little bird is bright blue with a tall crest and long tail feathers. It chirps at her and Repunzel whistles back. It cocks it's head to the side, sort of confused. She whistles again and it flies off towards it's nest.

"I feel like I just agreed to something." Repunzel says, looking at Pascal. He shrugs and his tongue shoot out to catch a fly that has gotten too close. He makes quick work of it and Repunzel giggles. "What are we doing today, besides bother the birds?" she asks her scaly companion.

The chameleon uses his tail to point out the window.

Repunzel sighs. "You know I can't.." she says softly.

He frowns and shakes his little head.

Repunzel smiles apologetically. "It's Mother's rules. You know why we can't leave. It's not safe for me out there." she says.

Pascal rolls his eyes and makes annoyed noises.

She writes what she's learned about the birds in her area in her notebook. She even takes the time to sketch the one that landed on the window sill. Pascal wanders off towards the kitchen and gets into the cookie jar. He grabs one and carries it in his mouth all the way back over to Repunzel. When he gets to the sill, he breaks it in half and gives one to Repunzel.

"Thanks Pascal." she says, closing her notebook and munching on the cookie. She made this batch and they're sort of bitter. But she doesn't mind. Every batch of cookies is a new lesson in baking.

* * *

One day, Repunzel bakes a cake. Everything was perfect. She followed directions, had the oven just right, and even paid attention to it so that it wouldn't burn. But when she set it out to cool, some bird flew in the window and tore into it. Then it brought friends. It was all Repunzel and Mother Gothal could do to remove the pesky birds from the house and shut all the windows.

Repunzel looks at her ruined cake with teary eyes. "I worked so hard on it.." she whimpers softly.

Gothal sighs. "You know how much I hate it when you mumble. I can't hear you, dear. Speak up." she says.

"Why does stuff like this have to happen, Mother?" Repunzel asks, turning to look at her.

"Because the world is full of disappointment. It's no different in this house. There are things you can't change or control and you have to accept it." she says.

Repunzel looks down at her cake. "I was really proud of this one, Mother. Can I try again?" she asks.

"The next time I go to market, I will get more ingredients to make a cake. For now, work on something we can sell." Gothal says, sitting down in her chair by the fire and resuming what looks like embroidery.

Repunzel nods and cleans up the mess the birds made. She tries a little crumb. It's absolutely delicious! She quickly runs upstairs to make something extraordinary.

Repunzel pulls the white sheet from her bed and starts to draw on it with charcoal. She draws with expert detail of what she thinks the bird that her feather came from might've looked like. Then she pulls out her threads and starts embroidering into it, giving the image life. After hours and hours of work trying to make it look just right, it is finished. When she moved the sheet, the bird seemed to move like fire. When she's done with the bird, she started on the background, giving the bird some place to be. She drew the bird in a tranquil setting near a small pond and other animals like fish and frogs. There were lots of flowers and insects. It took her three days to finish the second part, but the end result was truly beautiful.

Repunzel stares up at her ceiling, exhausted from all the needle work. Her hands were cramping severely. She looks up at the box she's had hidden away. She smiles as she looks at the box, remembering where it came from and what's inside. She remembered the feather who's fire was warm but did not burn. She found herself wondering what her friend was doing right now, if she was ok. Then she was very sad. She didn't know Dralina long, but she filled something in her that she didn't know was empty until she was gone forever.

"We'll be together again." she vows silently. "One day, I'll leave this tower and I'll find you."

* * *

Dralina sits on a pillow on the floor to read a book about rare and legendary magic plants. When she gets to a certain flower, she is very interested. "Hey, teach! Is there more on this Sundrop Flower?" She asks. All it had was a bare-bones sketch and a few sentences on its healing powers.

The old man puts his quill down and pushes his glasses up his nose. He rubs his scruffy beard-covered chin. "Well, that one's an interesting story." He starts, turning in his chair at his desk to face her where she's sitting near the fireplace. "Have you heard the story of the Lost Princess?" He asks.

"Yeah, everyone knows that one! The baby got stolen in the middle of the night." She says. "Is there more to it?"

"Well, yes quite a bit more." He gets up to go sit next to her. "You see there was always a legand about a flower growing from a single drop of sunlight that had amazing regenerative powers. So when the queen was pregnant with the princess and got sick, everyone in the kingdom was looking for it. When they did manage to find it, they brewed her a tea from it, saving both the queen and the princess. And the princess was born with golden hair, despite both of her parents being brunettes." He says. "When she was about two, she was stolen from the castle. I think we're to assume her hair held the same power as the flower. Or at least the kidnapper thought it did."

Dralina lets that soak in for a minute. "What does the princess look like?" She asks.

"That's right, you've never been to the capital. There are murals of her." He says. "The next time I make a trip, you can come with me."

Dralina nods and gets back to memorizing the plants.


	6. Chapter 6: Dragons

**Hey guys! I really appreciate all of your reviews. It inspires me to keep writing. Thanks to the four cool dudes that followed. This one's just for you.**

* * *

Kelsi hikes up the mountain trail, little Dralina following not too far behind. With every step, the temperature drops. Dralina shivers and pulls her cloak around her tighter. The elder man looks over his shoulder at her.

"We're almost there." he says, reassuringly.

"You said that an hour ago!" she gripes.

"And it'll take even longer with that attitude." he says.

After a few more minutes of walking, snow starts to appear on the ground in huge piles. "Alright!" he says finally, stopping at what looks to be a ledge. "We're here."

In front of them is a big snowy crater. Dralina can't believe her eyes. The sheer amount of snow buried gigantic Douglas Firs. "Why here?" she asks.

"Well, I wanted to put your elemental skills to the test. Here seemed like the best place to be." he says "It's wide open and secluded at the same time." He looks down at his young student as she shivers violently.

"I don't think this was a good idea." she says, pulling her hood over her face.

"Well, let's start with fire." he says, leading the way down the thin set of stairs leading into the bowl. "Move it or lose it. Quite literally." he says.

Her teeth chatter as she follows her estranged teacher.

"Picture in your mind what fire feels like." he says, rubbing his hands together. "How the flint on steel sparks as tinder is lit. The warmth that fills your body and the blinding heat that burns and blisters your skin."

She nods and looks at her hands, rubbing them together like he is. Sparks start flying from his hands and a magical fire erupts from his palms. She looks at him in awe.

"I will not be lighting a fire while we are here. You must warm yourself with your magic." he says.

The thought of no fire chills her further, making her rub her hands together faster. But all she could think about was how cold she was. Instead of fire erupting from her palms like his, ice spreads up her arms. Her shocked scream causes Kelsi to turn around. His eyes widen to the size of saucers.

"Well, that's not supposed to happen. I told you to think warm thoughts." he says, warming her arms with his hands. He quickly forces the ice to melt and the water to evaporate. "You can do this, you produced fire at home."

She nods and takes a deep breath. A spark of fire comes out of her mouth when she releases it. Kelsi jumps back, not really expecting that. She looks up at him in awe, stars in her eyes. "I am a dragon!" she stage whispers.

Kelsi chuckles. "Well, now that we know that the fire is inside, push it to the outer edge of your skin and let it warm you up."

Dralina nods and she starts to glow a little.

"That's a little too much, though. If you glow like that in a populated area, it'll cause people to be unsettled." Kelsi says.

Dralina nods and tries to tone it down, but just ends up shivering again.

"Alright, too low. Think of it like a sieve." he says, leading her towards the center of the bowl-like crater. "If it's wide open, you glow. You feel the flow inside you, right?"

Dralina nods again, shivering.

"Open the sieve just a little." he says as fire comes out of her mouth again, making her giggle.

"I'll try." she says as her teeth start to chatter.

After about ten minutes she manages to keep the glowing to a minimum, but she's finally warm.

"Close enough, we'll work on control again later." He says, ushering her to a large flat spot. "For now, I will teach you the fire dance. Well, your fire dance."

" _My_ fire dance?" She asks in confusion.

"Yes, every dance is different, because every fire is different." Kelsi says. "I won't show you mine so you can craft one on your own." He sits on the snowy ground.

"Is it literally a dance?" She asks.

Kelsi nods.

Dralina looks a little embarrassed. She's never danced in front of someone before.

"Think about fire, the way it moves in the oven, in the fireplace, and out in the open. Think about how the fire inside you would move, how it sparks to life." Kelsi supplies.

Dralina nods and closes her eyes. She pretends that she is fire and her limbs start moving. She feels comfortably warm and when Kelsi starts clapping, she stops, not having remembered the movements she made.

"That was beautiful!" He says, a proud smile on his face.

"I don't remember what I did." She says, looking at her hands.

"That's the way its supposed to be. You never do yhe same dance twice. The dance is supposed to express who you are as a person, encompassing what you have experienced, how you feel, what you're holding back from everyone." He says. "You must only ever show this dance to people you trust."

Dralina nods.

"Now that we've covered that, go gather some sticks and start a fire." He says, sipping some tea thay came from seemingly nowhere.

She nods and marches off to find the dryest twigs possible.

Hours later, Kelsi has to carry Dralina back to the cottage because she over did it on the earth magic. He sighs but smiles fondly. This girl will really be something one day.

* * *

Repunzel feels the tower shake a little, but it was so subtle that the only thing it did was move the water in her glass the tiniest bit. She looks around to see if anything else was disturbed. Nothing. She doesn't even think that Pascal felt it. Gothal notices her unease. She puts down her fork for a second.

"What's wrong Repunzel?" she asks.

"I felt the tower move a little. Like an earthquake, but a tiny one." Repunzel says.

"I didn't feel anything. You're probably imagining it, dear. Eat your vegetables." Gothal says, going back to her dinner.

"I don't thinks so.. But ok, Mother." she says and eats her peas. She can't help but keep an eye of the window.

* * *

 **Also, I wanted to get your take on whether I should do mostly Dralina's pov until the events of the movie starts.**


	7. Chapter 7: Brand New Journey

**Here we are with chapter seven finally! I hope you like it!**

* * *

Dralina pulls a pillar of earth from the ground. Its pretty big. About a foot wide and almost as tall as her (so about our feet tall). She centers herself and pictures what she wants the final product to look like. She picks up her water skin and pours it into the bowl at her feet. She waves her hands over the bowl in front of her and clenches her fists into a grabbing motion and pulls up slowly, hands shaking slightly from the effort. The water lifts from the bowl in spheres in varying sizes and speeds. She then flattens her palms together, forcing the water into one oblong ball. She rubs her palms together and it flattens out some.

She separates her hands, slowly, her entire focus on the water. He left hand shoots forward towards the pillar of earth, sending the water towards it at a frightening speed. She sends the water at the pillar, chipping bits off of the outer edges. The waters movements are jagged and unrefined, even though she is trying her hardest to get it to cut and flow at the same time.

She starts to really sweat now. When the pillar starts to somewhat resemble a bear, she gathers the water back into the bowl, exhausted. She flops down into the grass, looking to her left where her master is sitting, sipping his tea, the reference statue sitting next to him. It looks like a wood carving with how detailed it is. It has shining eyes and fur all over it's body. She looks back at hers. It looks like someone went and melted her master's statue.

"Good work, Dralina." Kelsi says. "Surprisingly good control for your first try."

"It looks like cra-"

"Watch your language, young lady." he says giving her a stern look.

She sighs. "It looks terrible, though." she amends.

"It will get better with practice." he says, pouring her a cup of tea.

She abandons her bowl of water and goes to sit by her master. She drinks the tea, an ache settling in her hips and back. "Why is water so hard today? I don't remember it being quite this hard yesterday." she grumbles.

Kelsi smiles, a glint in his eye. "Because today, the moon is farthest away from Earth in it's orbit." he says. "On days like this it is best to practice it at it's hardest. Then, ever other time you do this, it will seem easy."

She grumbles quietly and finishes her tea, getting up to go practice again. She pulls up another pillar of earth and goes at it again. It doesn't take long before she's sweating again. She has three terrible-looking bears before she quits to eat lunch.

"You're working so hard today." Kelsi notes. "Something bothering you?"

Dralina takes a bite of her bread half topped with a thick slice of cheese. She chews slowly and it looks like she's trying to find her words.

Kelsi waits patiently, taking a bite of his jerky.

"I had a dream about my friend Repunzel." she says softly. "She and I were baking cookies... And there was this man that had no face..."

"Hmm.." Kelsi says, processing that. He had a feeling like he's heard that name somewhere before, but he can't seem to remember.

"We were happy.. She had a big smile on her face... And the man just sort of was sitting there watching as we baked. He was sitting in the corner with his feet propped up on a table. He looked relaxed...and Repunzel was relaxed.." she says. "I just can't figure out who that guy is.."

"Do you normally have dreams about your friend?" Kelsi says.

"Yeah, but usually it's just me and her going on adventures." she says, pouring herself some more tea.

"Hmm.." he says again. "You really miss your friend don't you?"

Dralina nods. "Sometimes, I wish I could go visit her."

"I'm sure you'll see her again someday." he says.

Dralina just sighs and lays in the grass.

* * *

"Alright, ready to go?" Kelsi asks, fastening his satchel securely around his hips.

Dralina nods, a huge smile on her face as she jumps up and down with excitement.

"Alright, my little jumping bean! Let's go to the capital." he says, heading down the mountain. Dralina follows, knowing that this is the way down towards her village. She'll get to see her Mama and Pa again before she goes to see the big city. It takes about half a day to get to the quaint little village. It's grown a bit since the last time she's seen it. There are more houses on the edge of town and the market has at least ten more shops than before. She races past her chuckling master towards her family's home.

Lots of noise was coming from it, just as she remembered. She bursts in the door, startling her bustling family. The first person to recognize her was her baby brother Bobby who ran right towards her and tackled her in a hug. He was crying and smiling, saying her name over and over. Dralina hugs him tight, just as happy to see him. She looks up at her family and they're still too dumbstruck to move. Her older brother comes over and kneels down in front of her. He's a bit taller than the last time she's seen him and he has a lot more muscle to him now.

"Dralina, it's been so long!" he says with a smile. Behind him, his wife is scowling.

"I know! I should've come down to visit you guys sooner." Dralina she says as she pulls her older brother into the hug and sticks her tongue out at his wife. Still mean. Her brothers release her from their hug and she goes over to her Mama to hug her legs. Her mama kneels down too, crying as well as she hugs her baby girl.

"You have to join us for supper!" she insists.

From the doorway, Kelsi says. "A generous offer, but we really must be going within the hour. We have a long way to travel."

Everyone kind of looks at him, frowning. Her older brother's wife mutters something like "Thank goodness", earning her a look from her brother.

"We have some time to visit, but we must be going soon." Kelsi says. "I'll wait outside for you, Dralina." And with that, he goes outside, closing the door behind him.

Dralina climbs into her father's lap. She doesn't go too far into detail but she tells her family all about the things she's learning from the ancient sorcerer. She makes water from the washbasin dance and makes a huge gust flow into the window, causing her mother's skirt to fly up some. "Sorry Mama.." she says apologetically. He mother just smiles, motioning for her to continue. The next thing she does is make a little fire come out of her mouth like she did the first time she played with fire. She can do it the normal way, but she really wanted to show off. Her brothers were amazed while her parents and her sister-in-law all looked kind of fearful and disturbed.

"I can make dirt rise up into a mound too but I think it wouldn't be good for the floor." she adds finally.

Her family is sort of speechless. Except for Bobby. He shouts "Cool!"

She doesn't really have too much time to listen to what her family has been getting up to lately as her teacher came to retrieve her to continue traveling. She gives everyone hugs goodbye and leaves once again.

* * *

 **Guess where they're going lol**


	8. Chapter 8: Sweetrolls

It took several days for them to get there, Kelsi all the while teaching Dralina everything he can about the world around them. He shows her animal tracks, game trails, where to find some of those plants she read about in those books, and where certain types of birds like to nest. It was a crash course, but it was informative.

The path takes them up a hill. Dralina, in her excitement, runs up ahead of her teacher and is stunned into stillness at the top. The castle is bigger than she could've ever imagined, the flags a beautiful purple with a bright yellow sun on it: the royal family crest. And the town had so many buildings and houses than she'd ever seen before. And everybody was moving. Kelsi joins her at the top of the hill, smiling at her.

"Welcome to the capital, Dralina." He says.

"It's beautiful!" She says in awe.

Kelsi chuckles. "Yes, it is." He walks down the hill towards the front gate.

Dralina shakes herself out of her daze and races to catch up with her master. They pass the guards at the gate and they nod at him with respect. She looks around at everything, taking in the amazing smells. It's all so new and all so wonderful to her. Her smile never leaves her face as she holds tight to her master's cloak.

After a few minutes of weaving through the crowd of people, they stop at what looks like a healer's shop. Dralina looks around while Kelsi talks to the owner. Looks like he's trying to sell the healer his salves and the healer is getting mad because Kelsi won't cough up the recipe. The healer ends up buying all of what Kelsi has with him while Dralina giggles behind her hand.

They exit the store. "Want to go get a snack?" he asks her.

"Yes!" she shouts.

Kelsi chuckles and leads the way to a bakery. He purchases her a sweet bun and some cakes. they stop to eat them on the center fountain. Its then that she sees the mural being repainted.

Her eyes widen. "Is that the lost princess?" she asks, staring at it.

"Yes." Kelsi says. "That's the lost princess Rapunzel."

"I knew that woman wasn't her mother. She was way too afraid of outsiders." she mutters.

Kelsi looks at her confused. "What do you mean?" he asks.

"I know where she is." she says, not looking away from the mural. "But that woman is dangerous."

Kelsi is speechless. His mind is reeling as he tries to put the pieces together. "That friend of yours... She's the lost princess?" he asks quietly.

Dralina nods, finishing her sweet bun and starting on her cake.

Kelsi doesn't know what to say. He questions whether he should do something. If that woman is as dangerous as Dralina says she is, then they would have to be really careful about this.

"What was the woman like?" Kelsi asks finally.

"Well, she was really mean. There wasn't any fire in her eyes, only darkness." Dralina says. "She was protective of Repunzel so at the time, I didn't really think about her situation. They live in a tower with no stairs or a ladder for gods sake."

"That definitely sounds like a dangerous woman." Kelsi says.

Dralina nods and finishes her cake. "Thinking on it now, it all seems sort of out of place." she says. "That tower in that hidden grove..."

Kelsi nods in agreement. "I would find it odd as well." he says pulling out a water skin and taking a swig from it. He offers it to Dralina and she takes a drink too.

They look up at the sky together. "This is nice." Dralina spoke first. "No stress today. No pressure to learn anything and there's no real work to be done."

"Yeah, we got all of our work done already, though there's a friend that I wanted to visit today." Kelsi says with a smile.

"If he's nothing like that healer, then I'm game." Dralina says, sliding off of the edge of the fountain.

Kelsi nods. "Ready to get going already?" he asks, getting up. "Well then, let's go."

Dralina nods and follows him, grabbing onto his cloak when the crowd gets thick again. Kelsi takes them out of the market and into what looks like a residential area. After a few twist and turns that would definitely get anyone who didn't know the area very lost (which Dralina was) they finally arrive at this little cottage raised off the ground about five feet by stone supports.

"Is this it?" Dralina asks.

"Yes." Kelsi says, walking up the ladder to knock on the door.

"Is that you Kelsi?" a voice inside shouts.

"Yes, Henry!" Kelsi shouts back.

"Come on in, I got my hands full! And don't let your apprentice touch anything." Henry says. Dralina blinks in surprise and Kelsi chuckles, opening the door and leading his apprentice inside.

The inside of the house is not unlike the inside of Kelsi's house. There are books lining the walls, a single fireplace, a a small kitchen, and what looks like a backdoor to a yard of some sort. Dralina sits in the single chair in the corner and Kelsi joins his crochety old friend by the fireplace where he's worrying over a large black pot. The old man is stirring it this way and that, never leaving it to sit still.

He looks at Dralina. "You! Apprentice! Come stir this!" he barks out. "Three times to the left and two to the right and back again. Don't let it still."

Dralina scurries over and takes up the stirring for the old man.

Henry deflates and limps over to the chair in the corner. He relaxes into it, letting out an exhausted breath. "Thank you, child. I've been doing that all morning. It has but an hour left." he says, sighing again.

"Well, don't you look terrible." Kelsi remarks. "Time has not been good to you, my friend."

Henry nods. "Had a bad cold three winters back. Been this way ever since." he says.

"You have to take better care of yourself Henry." Kelsi says, going over to stand next to his friend.

"Yeah. Sure thing, _mother._ " Henry half growls. "Picking up the royal physician's slack is a real pain ya know."

"Do you at least get paid?" Kelsi asks.

"Not nearly enough." Henry says, defeated.

"Then you should take a vacation." Kelsi suggests.

"Uh-huh. All this work will still be here waiting for me when I get back." the older man growls.

"Then find someone else to do this job." Kelsi says, exasperated. "You are working yourself to death."

Henry wave at him flippantly, saying nothing. Kelsi sighs and goes to the cupboards, rifling through them. He pulls out plenty of spices and sets them on the counter. He then sets to grind them in a mortar. After a few minutes, he sets a kettle full of water on the fire under the large cooking pot that Dralina is still faithfully stirring. He smiles gently at her.

"Alright, I'll be right back. I need to get some things for supper." he announces. "Dralina, be good. Henry, don't eat my apprentice." And he walks out the door.

Dralina frowns and keeps stirring the pot. "How much longer?" she asks the old codger.

"Another 45 minutes at the least." Henry says.

Dralina sighs and diligently stirs the concoction. She knows from experience that if she does the wrong thing for even a second, this potion or whatever will turn out completely wrong. And then you have to start over. It's a real pain. She switches arms and stirs at a moderate pace.

Not too long later, Kelsi comes back with a package from the butcher and a long loaf of bread and the kettle is whistling. He picks up the kettle on the way to the kitchen. He pours everyone a cup of tea and offers Henry's cup to him.

He takes it gratefully and silently. Dralina guesses that he is really too tired to cook for himself, letting Kelsi cook for him. And she keeps stirring even though the pain in her arms is immense.

It's not too long after that Kelsi comes over and takes over for her. She can barely lift her arms to sip her now-cold tea. They shake with overuse and she rests her arms in her lap.

"Well, aren't you a pitiful thing." Henry comments over his cup of tea.

"I could say the same for you." Dralina says flatly.

Henry narrows his eyes. "You're a right lout." he says.

"If I could lift my arms, I'd set your tunic on fire." She says, glaring at him.

"Calm down children." Kelsi says giving the both of them a look. Dralina sighs and shakily pours herself more tea.

The rest of the evening passes rather quietly. As Dralina is laying down their bedrolls on Henry's dirty floor, she looks up at her master. "Can we visit Rapunzel on our way back?" she asks softly.

Kelsi considers that for a minute. "I don't see why not." he says, laying down. "But we can't really see her. If that deplorable woman sees us, she'll probably move her and you'll never have a chance at seeing her."

Dralina nods. "Alright." she says and lays down, her dreams filled with the days she played with that blonde princess.


End file.
